Unofficial Theorist

Didn't know I was a theorist, did you? Well how do you like that. I am one. A theorist, that is. I have two main theories I've been working on, but for today's post we will be focusing on the second. I call it The Theory Of The J. It goes something like this ...

I have observed, over the course of several years, that there is a pattern connecting names and looks of male actors whose names begin with the letter J. It would appear that having a name that starts with J gives them a predisposition to being smokin' hot.

Observe.

Jamie Dornan

Jamie Bell

John Krasinski

Jude Law

Josh Dallas

Josh Duhamel

Josh Lucas

Jeremy Renner

Jake Gyllenhaal

James Franco

Josh Hutcherson

You're welcome for that. 

You can see where this is going. There are about a million hotties whose names start with J. It's a good letter. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule. Some J names are not so cute, and some who don't have a J are way way way cute. But there you go.

Today I am an un[OFFICIAL] theorist.

Official Blind Date

Yep. You read that right. I, Anna Young, went on a blind date. And since Mr. Blind Date Boy isn't likely to ever read this ever, I feel okay about spilling the deets (that's cool talk for details. Because I am indeed cool). For the purposes of this blog post, we will call him Mr. Boy (because the blind date part is a given, and takes way too long to type).

So here's how it went down. Emily, in her infinite kindness towards me (Ha. Ha. Ha.) set up this little blind date. Yeah, thanks for that. So she doubled with a boy she knew, and I was with his friend (and he is also apparently Emily's friend). Anyways. They came to our house and we made little pizzas and played games. Pretty harmless date, right? Yeah. Except Mr. Boy kinda made me crazy. For the following reasons.

Reason 1: Mr. Boy is a Ute fan. Which, in and of itself, isn't really a terrible thing. Actually, it kind of is (Boo Utah Utes!). Up until nowish, I haven't actively hated the U, but this boy may have changed my mind. I'm turning into a hater. He is the most obnoxious Ute fan I've ever met (which is truly saying something, because, well, most Ute fans are obnoxious). His reasons for liking the U? They're in the Pac 12. Yay, congrats for you. They have lots of money. How nice. They win. Yippee skippy. What shallow reasons. And not only that, but he went as far as dissing on the Y. In. My. House. Pardon me? What the heck is that about? Leave. Just leave now. (And we're only on Reason 1. You can see where this is going).

Reason 2: When we played Just Dance, he wouldn't dance to even one song. And Just Dance is not a game I feel comfortable playing while being watched. No. Not even cool. And you seriously can't dance to one song? Lame. (His excuse? Being on his feet all day. At an art festival. Now that's classy...)

Reason 3: We played Ticket to Ride, and while we were playing, he said sometimes he likes to be antagonistic (and you could tell he was really proud he knew that word, because he threw it in the conversation a good five or six times) just to annoy people and screw them up. He doesn't even care about winning. He just wants people to be angry and annoyed. Mission accomplished, Mr. Boy. Mission accomplished.

Reason 4: He thinks he's the coolest. Because he goes to art festivals (sorry bud, but that's weird). And is going into physics (grossssssssss). And considered going to culinary school (but decided against it because of the high suicide rates). He really takes himself way too seriously. Like, when we were making the little pizzas, he was trying to be all fancy chef-like about it. But really, they're little pizzas. Pretty basic stuff. Please, dude. Stop trying so hard.

That's the date in a nutshell. Except for my date, it actually wasn't so bad. The only problem is, if you take out my date it doesn't count as a date, so this is all for naught. Eh. Whatever. The one upside of this is that I can cross "blind date" off my list of Summer Adventures and call it good.

So that was my [OFFICIAL] blind date.

*A Side Note*

I feel like blind dates count for nothing. It's just two people wrangled into this mockery of a fun evening by well-meaning but completely obtuse mutual friends. Doesn't count. Dates are only dates if the girl is actually asked out by the boy, knowing full well who he's asking out, based upon her own merits. Blind dates are lame.

Unofficial Stupid Face

Yesterday I went to Lagoon with Bree, Megan, and Sarah. It was a blast. We had SO much fun! Because who doesn't love Lagoon? Everyone loves Lagoon (Especially little tweeny boppers. There were about a million of them, wandering the park. And I kept thinking, "Are you lost, little children? Where are your parents? Oh, right. You are here without parents. What were they thinking, turning you loose on the world?!" And I know I used to be one of those little tweeny boppers. But they seem so much younger now). But the moral of the story is, we had fun. Except, I did a couple things that were maybe not the smartest.

Stupid Face #1

I don't know why, but I'm under this impression that I can go out for extended periods of time in the sun without the repercussions of a beastly sunburn. Or at the very least, only a little burn that will darken into a nice, sunkissed tan. This is all a lie. I'm a burner. A big-time burner. And if said burn darkens, it's not enough to make a difference, and it isn't worth the pain. Yesterday, I made the mistake of falling into this age-old trap of the sun. So my shoulders and back are paying for it dearly. I also made the mistake of wearing a cap sleeve shirt with a halter tank top over it, so not only do I have a very red, very painful sunburn, it also looks extra ridiculous. Yay for that.

Stupid Face #2

Yesterday I took about forty hours trying to choose which pants to wear. It was a debate between a pair of shorts and my favorite pair of capris. The shorts won in the end because they are shorts (and it was hot), and they have pockets deeper than the 2 inches my capris offer. I was expecting having deeper pockets would better protect my phone and car keys. This was not the case. After spending hours at Lagoon, with no incidents, on the third to last ride (The Wild Mouse) the phone was lost. That was quite an experience. I though I lost it on the second to last ride (Centennial Screamer), so we looked there, then we rode Wicked (that's a whole other story, but yeah, I lost my phone, freaked out, and then rode a roller coaster. Instead of looking. Don't even want to go there), then we looked some more. We ended up at the sketchy looking Safety and Security place (which, in a pinch, is really not easy to find - it's hidden behind lockers, down a scary looking alley), and she told us to go back to the rides and look (yeah, thanks for that, lady). Lucky for her, we found it. That stupid Wild Mouse must have wiggled it loose from my pocket. I hate that ride, I don't even know why we rode it in the first place.

Stupid Face #3

We went on lots of spinny circley rides. And then we felt a wee bit sickish. I LOVE the new Air Race ride, it's super dooper fun, but it is very circley. I wouldn't suggest you ride it unless you have a Stomach of Steel. We also did the Samuri (Love! But not if you're sitting next to a stranger. Because then they're legs awkwardly touch you, and it's just not super fun). And the Ferris Wheel. And the little gondola (that's what they call them, I guess) was spun around by the workers (that was weirdish), and they went pretty fast, and that really didn't help matters. And the Centennial Screamer is SUPER circley. Lesson learned: All things in moderation. And that applies especially to spinny circley rides.

Stupid Face #4

You know those little shows they do? That are kinda borderline okay? We saw those. They were entertaining. I kinda enjoyed them, even. And in one they sang some Newsies stuff. They weren't perfect (I'm pretty judgey when it comes to Newsies, because that movie ROCKS), but it was still Newsies, so I loved it. However, this one chick, in one of the shows - well, she shouldn't quit her day job. Actually, she should quit her day job, because her day job is singing. It just wasn't pretty. She was very very flat. And she was singing a really big song that required some serious skills. She just wasn't up for it. I felt really bad. But the Stupid Face part of this is that we listened to her twice, to see if she had gotten any better as the night went on. She hadn't. We shouldn't have put ourselves through that again.

So, yesterday was super fun, but unfortunately for me,

I am an un[OFFICIAL] stupid face. Occasionally.

There are no pictures, I know. My bad. But Charlotte is ginormous, and I didn't want to lug her around Lagoon all day. So just imagine me, looking sunburned, with my friends, having fun. Very good.

Unofficial Word Snob

I'll admit it. There are words I like better than others. And some words, I really just hate. A lot. It's not like they did anything to me. Sometimes, I don't like things and I don't even need a reason to. That sounds rude, but I guess if it only extends to words, it isn't so horrible. I'm not sure if maybe this is just an "Anna is weird" type of thing, or if other people do it too. But there really are some words I can't stand.

A List of Words Anna Can't Stand

1. Ain't - Ain't is NOT a word. Just look at it! It doesn't even look like a word! It's just masquerading as a cool contraction, but it is living a lie. It's a stupid word, and I hate it.

2. Sofa - What is this, England? Are we all fancy and posh and too good for couch? No! It's a couch, people. A couch. (I'm not sure they say sofa in England, but I feel like it's a word they might use)

3. Posh - I just don't like it. You could say sophisticated, elegant, classy, fancy. And you choose to say posh? No. This one also falls under the lame fancy British words category.

4. Flesh - Flesh. Flesh tones. Fleshy. Goose flesh. What do all these words have in common? They make me want to vomit. Flesh just sounds gross. I don't like it.

5. Totes - Granted, totes is a word. If you're talking about multiple handbags. If you're shortening "totally" to make it cute and catchy, I'm going to have to call you out on it. Because it isn't a word! And it isn't even that cute of a not word! I'm just not a big fan.

6. The Skin of My Teeth - This is a phrase. But I still hate it. First off, teeth don't have skin. They're teeth. Secondly, ewwwwwwwwwww. The skin of my teeth? That is so gross!

7. Gelatinous Pulp - In reference to a lifeless body. Scratch that, in reference to anything. I kinda like the word pulp (as long as it isn't being used to describe a lifeless body or the gross stuff in orange juice), but throw it together with gelatinous, and I don't like it so much. Or at all, even.

8. Gills - I don't like fish (except for Felix). And I don't like the gills. The word, or the actual thing. If you think about it, they're pretty nasty. Little slits in the fish's body that allow them to breath in water? Yuck.

On the flip side, there are also some words I like quite a lot.

A List of Words Anna Likes Quite A Lot

1. Scum - It's a great word for describing people with unsavory characteristics. It doesn't sound super rude, but it gets the point across. Also, it's kinda fun to say.

2. Melancholy - Such a lovely word for a not so lovely feeling. Sometimes, I'm okay with feeling melancholy just so I can say the word.

3. Pardon - "Pardon me." "I beg your pardon." "Official pardon." This word also sounds British, but in a good way. Posh is more fakey "I think I'm cool" British. Pardon is classy "I have a large vocabulary and a cool accent" British.
4. Memorandum - It's just a cool word. I like the way it sounds. Someday I am definitely writing a memorandum, if only so I can tell people, "I have written a memorandum".
5. Ducky - Also a fun word. People ask how you're doing, and you say "Just ducky!", and leave them to figure out what it means. Or you call someone ducky, like, "Just a moment, ducky, I've got to finish sweeping the floor." It's just fun!
6. Indisposed - "I'm feeling rather indisposed at the moment" vs. "Yeah, I feel like crap and I think I'm maybe about to throw up all over the place." Which do you prefer? Come on. Indisposed wins by a landslide.
7. Yee Haw - I'm about the farthest thing I can imagine from being a cowgirl type AT ALL, but they did get this one right. Just say it! Yee haw! There's so much happy emotion behind those words! I like them.
8. Dusk - It's lovely word. A really truly lovely word. I say dusk, and I think setting sun, night slipping in around the edges, the brief moment where life balances between night and day. Lovely.

I don't know, maybe words are like people. Maybe they are all created equal, and there isn't a one better than another (though I must admit, I find that a little hard to believe. Phantom-like appartion, sophisticated elegance, and trepidation hardly seem equal to ghost, fancy, and fear). So be it. If words are all equal, than I am more than willing to admit that
I am an un[OFFICIAL] word snob.

In other news ...

BUCKET LIST NEWS
I have completed number 48: Watch an actual scary movie. So yippee! I watched The Lady In Black, nearly wet myself with fear, but I watched the movie and survived and life is good! So we can check that baby off the list! Yee haw! (See? It is a fun word!)

Unofficial Shadow

*WARNING*

This is definitely one of those super lame "woe is me" sort of posts. If you're not into deep emotional scarring, this may not be the one for you. You were warned.

Here's the problem at the root of it all. I care way too much. I have this obsession caring about what other people think about me. I live in mortal fear of being disliked. Which is funny, because lacking personality is a good way to be, well, not disliked. But certainly not liked. A little backwards thinking. This is all stems from the "Fear of Failure" thing I have going on. If I can't succeed at something, I'm not going to do it. One of the many reasons for my hate of sports. And in my head, I equate rejection with failure (which is okay, because they really are pretty much the same thing). So, in my efforts to not be rejected, I don't give people anything to reject. I lose all personality. I become a shadow. A very good shadow too. I'm just wisps of air, almost a figment of the imagination. Lost in the melee of all social gatherings, perfectly content to watch and listen and remain completely aloof.

However, I have recently discovered a simple, yet very important truth: Being a shadow sucks. I'm sick and tired of going unnoticed. Of course, I know I've only got myself to blame. But it still sucks. And that doesn't mean I want to be the center of attention, because that is hitting the complete opposite side of the spectrum. I think maybe I'm ready to be a normal human being, stop caring what everyone thinks, and just be me - whether they like it or not. I'm Anna, and that's it. It's so easy to be me with my family, because they already know that I'm a crazy hooligan, and they've come to expect that. It's crazy how easy it is to be me on my blog, because for one thing, I don't even know if anyone's reading this. And for another, if they are reading it, I don't have to see them, I'm not there with them, I can't gauge their reactions. It's just me being me without having to worry about what other people think. I'm just not sure how to translate that into real not-family, not-blog life. The only thing I know for sure is that it's going to require me to ditch my comfort zone completely. I can't keep even one toe in, because my comfort zone is pretty tiny, and far far away from reality. I think that's probably all I know for sure because that scares the crap out of me, and I don't want to give it any more thought than that.

So here's the resolution: I, Anna Lin Young (full name here - this is serious business), am no longer going to be a shadow. I vow (yes, vow. I told you it was serious) to be me. To share all my crazy antics and delightful sense of humor (of course it's delightful!) with all the world.

So you'd better get ready, world.

I'm un[OFFICIALLY] NOT a shadow.

PS - If this thing doesn't go down so hot, and I return to my normal shadowy ways, we're going to pretend this blog post never happend. Right? Good.

Unofficial Photographer

You know what the best feeling in the world is? Getting a package from UPS or FedEx. You hear the doorbell ring, you expect to see someone asking to borrow a cup of sugar or drop off an invitation to a ward activity, but no! Sitting on your doorstep, underneath the welcome rug (not sure what the point of that is, because its not like it's hiding anything) sits a magical brown box that contains the secrets of the universe. Or a movie ordered off Amazon. Either or. I enjoyed this happy experience last week. Unfortunatly, said box was addressed to one Margaret Young, so I did not have the pleasure of opening it. Until she got home. And then, what wondrous joy filled my heart! Inside the box, nestled on a soft bed of packing peanuts and bubble wrap, lay another box. And inside that box, lay my camera. Yes! My camera! And here she is:

"She?" you ask. Yes. Her name is Charlotte.

So, naturally, I am now a photographer. Unofficially. Does having a sweet camera make you a photographer? No. Am I going to pretend it does? Yes. And may I just say, I am seriously loving this camera. So maybe it's a little biggish. It makes me feel cooler. Like I'm sort of photographer extraordinaire who is above those tiny little cameras that very conveniently fit inside a large pocket (Charlotte, she's not going to be fitting in any pockets). Big camera = Big photography skills. Or something like that anyways. I always intended to take those photography classes in high school, but it never happened. So I know zilch about actual photography. But it's all good! I can pretend with the best of them.

If you start to see lots of pictures popping up on the blog posts, you will know why. (A Hint: It's because I have an awesome new camera and I need an exucse to use it) And if perchance you don't see any increase in featuring photos in my posts, you will also know why. (Another Hint: It's because I am lazy, and that would mean taking my camera with me places, using the camera, uploading those pictures, and putting them on the blog. Lots of work.)

But guess what? I am an un[OFFICIAL] photographer. It's all good.

PS - I just really like the way it takes pictures. I haven't used it a whole ton yet, but I really like it. And I'm not claiming to be a photography genius or anything, but take a look at these babies: